April 2019

Who would believe that we are nearly through April and are in our last month of autumn for 2019.

Lots of families went away over the Easter and Anzac break. We hope you had a wonderful time. It’s nice to have everyone back in this week. Just a reminder if you do head away, please let us knows in the office. You can just email us your holiday dates. Make sure you send your holiday snaps in for your child’s show and tell too.

With the cooler weather approaching us, please make sure children are packing warmer clothes in their bags. One of our statements we like to use at Moa is “there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. So, with winter nearly here, please pack named jackets, gumboots and lots of warm clothes. If it is bucketing down, the children won’t be out in it, but with light showers and cooler weather the doors will be open and the children will have the opportunity to play outside if they like.

Thank you to all the families who supported the Quiz night at the end of March. This was a great night and we managed to raise just under $1500. This was fantastic. We used this money to purchase the new outdoor kitchen in the preschool, two new tunnel’s one for both sides, some new dolls clothes, new dolls high chair, we will up our Heuristic play box and some lovely bi-cultural resources that are on their way. So again thank you.

We are doing a centre review around the Reggio philosophy. This has sparked up lots of conversation with the teachers around our environment and what we are providing. We are trying to provide a more natural looking environment for our children with natural resources. We use Heuristic play a lot in the centre; here is a brief description of what is:

Heuristic play is about playing with real-life, everyday objects and providing kids with an opportunity for open-ended discovery. When children are involved in heuristic play, they are using familiar objects in different ways. It is the process of exploring the different ways to use the objects that is important in the play. The word ‘heuristic’ comes from the word ‘eurisko’ which means to learn, discover or reach an understanding of something. And the phrase ‘heuristic play’ was a term coined by child psychologist Elinor Goldschmeid in the 1980’s to describe the activity of babies and children as they play with and explore the properties of objects from the real world.

For babies and toddlers, Goldschmeid’s approach to heuristic play revolves around them using their senses and exploring a treasure basket filled with real-world objects made from any material (apart from plastic) that comes from nature and around the house.

It is through handling and exploring these objects that babies and toddlers begin to make their own choices and decisions and start to gain an understanding of the world around them.

With Moa being a non-for-profit community based centre, fundraising events play a very important part in our way of life. It is really important these events are supported by all our families.

On Saturday 11th May, we have our first bake sale at the Mt Pleasant Farmers Market. Last year this was a great fundraising event, so hopefully we will get the same support as last year.

If each family could bake an item for us to sell at the market, that would be fabulous. We are also looking for helpers for the stall on the Saturday morning. Last year we had a few gluten and diary free products made, but these sold out super fast and there were lots of requests for them. So if you have a great diary free or gluten free recipe, please feel free to whip this up or even share it with our other families (you can email it in for Zoe to send out). Zoe will email out details for dropping off points the week before. So watch this space.

Next Month is our AGM (Monday 20th May). Our quest speaker this year is Mrs O the new entrant teacher from Redcliffs Primary School. She will be doing a presentation on school readiness. Even if your child is not going to be attending Redcliffs, the information is still very relevant and you will find you will all get a lot out of it. Because we don’t have many adult chairs at Moa Kids we get them in for events like this. Can families please RSVP, so we have a rough idea on how many people will be attending?

Just a reminder that our new fee rate starts this week; if you have any questions please come and see me.

My door is always open so if there is any issue or something you would like to discuss, please don’t hesitate to come and see me.

Thanks Hayley

Welcome to our new families

A big welcome to Isla, Lucas, Cory & Kurt who have all started at Moa Kids. It’s great to have you all join the Moa Kids family.

Farewell

We have said goodbye and Happy School Days to Celeste, Saffron, Liam, Ursula & Felix. We hope their next learning adventures are fun ones.

Staff News

Sharleen is excited to let you all know she is pregnant. She is due September and plans to work as close to the due date as possible. We will let you know when she plans to finish; once we know this information we will start the process of looking for her cover.

We have had a few teachers taking long well deserved breaks overseas this year. Ali will be heading back to the UK for 4 weeks at the end of May and will be back at the start of July. Shay is heading to the UK mid July and will be away for 6.5 weeks. She will be back the first week of September.

Well, my wedding is coming closer and closer! It is at the end of November this year. With Tadhg’s family making the big trip over from Ireland and lots of guests coming from afar, I thought I better spend some time with them and show them this beautiful county. So I will be taking three weeks off around this time.

Reminders

Show and tell: Each child who attends the preschool room has a show and tell day. This is the day where they can bring is something special to show their peers. We know lots of our friends like to bring in toys and often it is the same toy from the week before. We are not saying no toys, but if parents could get the children to have a think of something different each time, this will help their child when they get up to talk about their “show and tell”. Remember that you are most welcome to email in any photos of what they been getting up to over the weekend. This goes down really well and the children normally have lots to say about it.

Lost Property: Please, please check the lost property in the foyer and the show and tell treasures. Also make sure your child’s clothes are named as this will help with getting items back to the correct child.

Moved House? Have you moved house recently or got a new landline/mobile number? If so, please update the office with your new details.

Nappies: Some parents choose to bring a bag of nappies in for their child and we let the families know when they are running low by writing on the daily role sheet. Please make sure when you see “please bring nappies” that you bring them in as soon as you can. We have emergency nappies if children run out, but these need to be replaced if used. We unfortunately are not in the position to be supplying nappies to children.

Parking: Can you please make sure that you are parking in the car parking spaces provided. Please don’t park along the fence line by the entrance to Moa Kids. This is a safety issue for all of our children arriving and leaving Moa Kids.

Nut Free Zone: Moa Kids is a “nut free” zone. Lately we have been noticing a lot of nut products coming in cashews, almonds, peanut butter sandwiches etc. Please can you remember that we are a nut free zone when you are making your child’s lunch.

Bags: We are keen to take any plastic or paper bags you may have.

Excursions: If your child is down to go on an excursion can you please make sure that your child has good walking shoes either on them or in their bag and they have a coat.

Jacket & Hat: Please make sure that you have packed a named winter hat and a few layers for your child now the cooler weather approaches. Also, can you make sure that you are bringing in a jacket or coat for your child too.

Governance Committee

Our next Governance Committee meeting is the AGM which is being held on Monday 20th May. We would really appreciate seeing people at this meeting. We have a guest speaker too, Mrs O, the New Entrant teacher at Redcliffs School will be talking about starting school. This isn’t just aimed at parents of 4 year olds, it’s interesting for all ages. The meeting will start at 7.00 and then Mrs O will start at 7.30 in the preschool room.

Nursery News

We have been so lucky lately having two great students in our nursery, Sophie has finished her 5 weeks placement and we now have Simon join us for 5 weeks. He has settled in really well and the children are enjoying having him in the nursery environment.

We have had a number of exciting Easter activities, for all the nursery children to enjoy. We have been having Easter stories and songs at group times.

The children have continued to enjoy our music sessions. With lots of jumping to songs “Miss Bunny” which is always a favourite.

With the cooler weather upon us, could you all please make sure you are bringing in named hats, jackets and gumboots, so we can continue to explore outside in the winter months. If you have water proof overalls, make sure you pack them as well!

The nursery has had a change around with our furniture. This allows the children to explore new areas within the room and the children have better access to their family photos. If you have your family photos ready to go on a leaf, we are happy to stick them on and laminate them for you. Even feel free to email photos in if you like.

The children are really enjoying the bikes. They are often all in use. They love to speed down the hill. As the children gain for physical abilities of balance and co-ordination they seem keen to ride the bikes. We let the children try this at their own time.

Mizu has had a number of visits into the preschool room. She has enjoyed reconnecting with old nursery friends. Ivy starts her transition this week. She also will enjoy reconnecting with her old nursery friends. She often has conversations at the fence with Eleanor, Silvia and Quinn.

Preschool News

We had another successful holiday programme filled will lots of exciting activities. We originally started this to help the children to come in who had siblings at home in the school holidays. This has certainly worked so we will continue to do this during the school holidays.

We also have had a busy month with children’s last day themes. The children love picking a theme for their last day and it is a great way to celebrate their time at Moa Kids.

We have had a small change of routine in the afternoon. We are calling the children to the mat at 2.30pm. This is where we will help the children get their shoes on so there is not that mad rush to find shoes when they are being picked up. We are then having a general tidy up on the classroom, this it to encourage/support the children to self manage and to further develop a sense of responsibility for their preschool environment.

We then have a rolling afternoon tea where the children are encouraged to put their own lunch box in their bags. So far this new routine is working well.

Our Body Project is still going strong with children drawing pictures including organs.

With the change of weather has provided opportunities to explore puddles outside. So make sure you pack the children’s gumboots.

We have been very lucky to have our heuristic play box topped up. The teachers have been enjoying setting this up in ways that invite the children to work with the heuristic play and the children have been just loving it.

We were also lucky to get the new outdoor kitchen. As you can imagine the children have loved exploring and developing working theories for how the pump works.

The children have also continued to have a huge interest in making and preparing potions.

Dolphin Club News

We have had a busy first term in Dolphin club. Lots of our friends have enjoyed coming into dolphin club for the first time. Everyone is making the most of their time in dolphin club. Lots of our older children enjoy showing our young children how it all works J

We have spent time creating a calming environment in the dolphin club. We turn the fairy lights on when the children arrive. We have been setting up different stations in the room; this is similar to what school does in the new entrance classes. So it is a great way to support our children transitioning into school.

Last term we did two school visits to Redcliffs and Sumner Primary Schools. We plan to continue to do this each term. Even if your child won’t be attending these schools, going to a school environment with their peers and seeing what it is all about will still be beneficial for them.

This term the children have been learning sign language. The children, along with the teachers, have learnt a lot and are confidently using sign. Which is fantastic! The children also have learnt three songs that all have the signs to them.

This term we have decided to learn Hindi. If any families have any songs in Hindi that might be good for preschoolers. Please let us know.

We will continue to teach self regulation exercises and games. As this seems to be working really well.

What’s on?

Keep an eye on your emails for a full list of events we have coming up. There will also be event calendars around the preschool.

Bake Sale

Where: Mt Pleasant Farmers Market

When: Saturday 11th May 2019

Time: 9:30 – 12:30

Children’s corner

Have you been away somewhere exciting and you want to let everyone know, or have you got a new person in your family? Please send a few details to Zoe and she’ll put a little piece in the “children’s corner” section.

Profiles

Teacher profile: Shay Jenkins

Kia ora

Ko Shay Jenkins toku ikoa

No Takaka ahau

No Otautahi kaika ineinae.

Hi there my name is Shay Jenkins. I have four children of my own.

I have been working in early childhood for many years now.

I graduated after four years of study with a Bachelor of Teaching and Learning in 2012.

I am really enthusiastic about teaching and have a strong interest in performing arts.

I believe making a connection/relationship with a child is the most important thing, this is the key to children having a real ‘sense of belonging’ and therefore they will learn, laugh and be inspired!

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About Us

We are a community owned, not-for-profit, incorporated society located in a modern purpose built building in Barnett Park, Redcliffs. The centre is divided into two main areas - the nursery for the under 2 year olds, and the preschool area for those 2 years to 5 years, each with large age-appropriate indoor and outdoor playing areas. We are licensed for 50 children with up to 10 of them being under two years of age.